Of course I kept a journal when I went on my three day jaunt to Paris with EF Tours. So I will just transcribe what I wrote then. WARNING!!!!! THIS IS VERY LONG!! I will add a link to where the pictures are.
Wednesday 7/18 into Thursday 7/19: Oh for heaven's sakes!! All I wasnted to do was get on the plane and get to Paris- weellllll, I got on the plane. And then began the longest trip to Paris EVER!! The eastern seaboard was shut down to all flights because of storms in the northeast...yay. So we sat on the runway for just under three hours.......fantastic. I did get to listen to air traffic control trying to reroute all these flights. It was crazy. Our pilot was not happy about how they handled it. I guess he thought they could have given us a bypass route sooner. Listening to the air traffic controllers..... it is a wonder any planes take off and land without more accidents....if they get to move at all.Ok, so finally we took off near 8pm. We were supposed to land at 7:10 am in Frankfurt and connect with my flight to Paris at 8:40. Well THAT didn't happen. We landed at 9am and I was rebooked on a flight at 12:10. Crap! I land in Paris at 1:20.....half the day gone from Paris UGH!!! And my feet hurt already! The Frankfurt airport is HUGE!!!! It's so big the gate agents ride bikes in the terminal. Security was a breeze compared to the US, but I did get felt up completely by a big strapping German woman. There's a good morning wake up!!Landing in Paris was uneventful. I got out of customs easily and found the EF people right away. We had to wait almost 2 more hours for other people who were late. Our tour coordinator hadn't heard from them and wasn't even sure if they made their flight or anything. Smugly I admit that I printed all the emails they sent us and carried them with me, one of which had the emergency number to call in case your flight is delayed so they can contact the people waiting for you in the
airport. I did call. The others we waited for did NOT. We eventually gave up on them and went to the hotel, checked in and then got on the Metro to the Louvre. Half our group had gotten in on time and had been at the Louvre for several hours. We had to meet up at the glass pyramid at 6pm for our "walking tour". So far to this point all I'd seen of Paris looked at lot like any major city. The Louvre stop is underground, a lot like Union Station too with the shops, and we got to where the original foundation of the Louvre is exposed and John Judah (one of the invited teachers who has led over 20 tours with EF) pointed us in many different directions as we had an hour before we had to meet at 6.
I did NOT want to spend anymore time underground and went up the stairs to the plaza. The first thing I saw at the top of the stairs was this huge arch that is a replica of the arch outside of the Coliseum.
(Yes I've seen that one too;) And then THERE is the Louvre. That
moment is what made the hellish trip to get there completely worth it. There are no words to describe it.The "walking tour" seemed only like a walk from the Louvre to our restaurant that just happened to take us past the Opera House. Dinner was good tho. It was at a restaurant that specializes in Alsace region cooking, specifically a type of flat bread....pizza....for lack of a better word. No tomato sauce. Huge salad, tons of food that didn't seem to stop coming and of course WINE!! Hellloooo Paris!! Dinner was very fun.......good conversation and lots of silliness. After dinner some of us went down to the Champs Elysee as the shops don't close there till midnight. The sun doesn't set til after 10.........VERY disconcerting. Took the Metro back to the Hotel and went to bed around 12. What a long exhausting yet exhilarating day!!
Friday 7/20: Today I got up at 7 showered, went down for breakfast (croissant and coffee) and then our meetings. Lots of materials and I also took many notes. But that will be another entry;) Lunch was three courses, more wine and of course espresso! We were done at 2:45, no thanks to the stupid teachers that can't follow directions and NOT ask questions that ONLY pertain to their trip experience. UGH. Met back in lobby at 3:15, and Jessica Patrick(the only other teacher from VA and she was from Warrenton!!) and I had a plan. We went shopping and bought Longchamps bags.......which were ON SALE!
And then on the Metro to the Louvre.
Holy CRAP!!! What an amazing museum and phenomenally impressive building. Of course we got lost and yet still soooo much that we did see and after 4 hours realized that we
had barely scratched the surface.
After the Louvre.........and by the way....Mona Lisa?...........ok, big deal. You can't even really get very close and there are way too many people pushing and shoving and I got stepped on and pushed and prodded and yelled at in several languages because all I wanted to do was look at it and NOT take a picture ..............LIKE THE SIGNS SAY YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO!!! I hate tourists. (ironic that;)After the Louvre, Jess and I wandered around looking for a restaurant for a pris fixe dinner. We found one that looked good across from the Grand Hotel...Chez Clermont. Fantastic food, waiter spoke only french, we did ok and had a three hour dinner;) Of course there was wine.....don't ask such a silly question;) Then we wandered around a bit and finally got on the Metro to go back to the hotel. I soaked my feet in cool water.....ahhhh! And when my roommate got back we compared afternoons. She went on the group excursion of the Seine river cruise and then some of them climbed to the top of the Eiffel tower. She didn't, said the lines were toooooo long. But that a few of them were really hungry and opted for the first restaurant they saw and she said her dinner was AWFUL!! AND expensive. Can one say tourist trap?? Asleep by 1am!
Saturday 7/21: Ok, so I am very glad that I have decided to NOT do the optional excursions for our trip to London. It's WAY too much. I want everyone to remember more than being exhausted! Anway, we started Satuday with a bus tour in the morning. Our guide was Thierry and he was very good, energetic and fun! Also didnt' want to take crap from anyone, especially other tour leaders:) there are rules and etiquette and he had no time for those that can't follow them. Also had a great national pride, it was really wonderful. I got to talk to him a bit while we were walking. I got from him that he feels that the EF tours keep the kids too busy always rushing here and there and no time for them to experience the culture. I would have to agree. When I told him I had decided to keep 2 days free in our week he opened up more about the importance of time to absorb everything. It it's go go go everything all starts to look the same. I said to Jessica that there were a number of time that I felt like I never left America. A combination of where we stayed and the cattle-esque way of traveling. That and american Americans. UGH. I don't WANT to spend all that time with the students. The point of a trip like this is to get out of your comfort zone and expand your understanding.....sooo key in theatre. Very hard to do that if you spend all your time with all the same people you see all the time. Might as well have stayed home. Ok, so anyway.......... tirade over;) We pick up Thierry at the Arc de Triomph and drove around it and around it and around it while he was giving up the history etc. Can one say European Vacation??? I sat in the front and I started to feel a little queasy. Then Place de la Concorde where the guillotine was and then they dropped us off so we could run, literally, to Notre Dame.
Notre Dame...........oh my. I mean, I know I'm a church geek, but it really was stunning. The windows, fantastic, the history of course was interesting, but it just felt good in the building. I couldn't take all the rude tourists, so I sat in the chapel in the back, said a few prayers and then went back out. Sucked down an espresso at the cafe across the street, hit the loo and then met the group to hoof it back to the bus.There were other places we drove past, one being the Ritz hotel. Then off to a group shot in front of the Eiffel Tower. Only enough time to do the group shot and then a few individual shots then we were hustled back to the bus.
A shame really because there was a jazz concert just starting in a Pavilion in the park.
I would have loved to sit and have listened a bit.
Ok, so back on the bus to get to Versailles. Good god it was crowded. A shame really.
It is a huge palace and there is so little that you get to see.
I actually hated the tour. It was too many people that were rude and pushy and didn't pay attention to the rules. Thierry
was very adamant about the rules:)
Then we had 2 hours in the gardents. I got a sunburn, but it was absolutely gorgeous in the gardens. Jess and I bought some lunch in one of the cafes and sat on a wall and ate surrounded by flowers and fountains and statuary. It certainly puts the French Revolution into perspective;)
Then back on the bus to go back to Paris for dinner. Another fine dinner......with wine. After dinner the group split..........some back to the hotel to pack and sleep, some to climb Montmartre and see Sacre Couer, while a few others went to the Moulin Rouge. The climb up Montmartre was .....tough, but oh so worth it. What an amazing view of the entire city and the cathedral itself. What a fantastic mosaic on the ceiling! It's absolutely huge! And no pictures inside!!YAY! Jess and I did a little shopping, I got a piece of artwork and got to talk to the artist a bit. There were street performers, I had a Nutella crepe............thenback on the metro to go back to the hotel to pack. It was really a wonderful area to wander in. There was so much to see on the entire trip and really not enough time. Things were too packed in so I was frustrated and did occasionally feel very rushed. I was packed in 15 minutes and went to bed.
One of the best things was during a conversation climbing up the steps to Montmartre.
I was with Ennio from the Lucerne office and he asked if I taught PE because I was practically running up the stairs (thank you stairmaster). I laughed and said no, I teach theatre. He stopped, looked at me, shook his head and said...........oh wow, that's even worse. They have to be so fit all the time. That explains it then, why you don't seem worn out.So much more about the trip I didn't really write down. I was so tired.
I know there aren't any pictures right now, but I will add some later. I promise;)
